FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



287 



bacon and hams, $4,771,295; Indian-corn, 

 $313,014; Indian-corn-meal, $238,866; rye 

 (1,357,384 bushels), $1,363,772; wheat (17,992,- 

 751 bushels), $41,813,596; railroad-cars, $641,- 

 037; bituminous coal (158,301 tons), $758,723 ; 

 anthracite coal (8'5,756 tons), $444,458 ; cotton, 

 raw (98,183,400 Ibs.), $20,584,955; hemp and 

 manufactures of, $243,898; illuminating oils 

 (25,668,571 gallons), $10,530,594; spirits, dis- 

 tilled (1,820,222 gallons), $813,262; spirits of 

 turpentine, $834,389; tallow, $2,443,117; to- 

 bacco, leaf (94,195,891 Ibs.), $5,157,632; sail- 

 ing-vessels sold to foreigners (14,745 tons), 

 $617,528; shooks, staves, and headings, $1,217,- 

 062; timber, sawed and hewed, $2,064,318; 

 wood and manufactures of, $332,256. 



There is little change in the proportion of the 

 foreign carrying-trade transacted in foreign ves- 

 sels, about 74 per cent, of imports and exports, 

 during the last fiscal year, having been carried 

 in foreign vessels as against about 72 per cent, 

 for the preceding year, and 76 per cent, for the 

 fiscal year 1872. 



The Register of the Treasury reports the 

 total tonnage of vessels of the United States 

 to be 4,853,732 tons, an increase of 53,080 tons 

 over that of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1874, 

 exclusive of the canal-boat tonnage, amounting 

 to about 48,000 tons, exempt from enrollment 

 and license under the act of Congress approved 

 April 18, 1874. 



The actual increase is believed to be about 

 141,878 tons, this amount being the excess of 

 gains over losses during the year ; but this ag- 

 gregate has been reduced to 53,080 tons (the 

 increase first above mentioned) by omitting the 

 tonnage of the exempted canal-boats, and by 

 corrections of tonnage returns, about 40,000 

 tons. 



The following table exhibits the total ton- 

 nage for the last two years : 



The tonnage of vessels built, as given by the 

 Kegister, is 297,639, being a decrease from that 

 of the preceding year of 135,086 tons, or over 

 31 per centum. The number of vessels built 

 was 1,301. 



The report of the Controller of the Curren- 

 cy, for 1875, states that during the past year 

 107 banks have been organized, with an author- 

 ized capital of $12,104,000, and $4,794,180 of 

 circulation ; of which number two were gold 

 banks, with $200,000 capital and $120,000 

 circulation. Five banks have failed, with an 

 aggregate capital of $1,000,000; and thirty- 

 eight banks, with a total capital of $3,920,000, 

 have gone into voluntary liquidation by votes 

 of shareholders owning two-thirds of their 

 capital stock. The total number of national 



banks organized since the establishment of the 

 national banking system is 2,307. Of these 40 

 have failed, and 175 have gone into voluntary 

 liquidation, leaving 2,092 in existence on No- 

 vember 1, 1875. Three of these banks, located 

 in the city of New York, have no circulation, 

 and 241 have reduced their circulation and 

 withdrawn a portion of their bonds, under the 

 act of June 20, 1874, 117 of them having de- 

 posited legal-tender notes and reduced the 

 amount of their bonds on deposit as security 

 for circulation to the minimum amount allowed 

 by law. Included in this aggregate are nine 

 national gold banks, located in California, with 

 a capital of $4,700,000, and a circulation of 

 $2,630,000. 



The only act in relation to the banking sys- 

 tem of the country which has passed Congress 

 during the present year is that of January 14, 

 1875, which repealed all laws limiting the 

 aggregate amount of circulating notes to be 

 issued, and also repealed those parts of the 

 laws above referred to which provided for the 

 withdrawal and redistribution of a portion of 

 the circulation already issued. This act made 

 it the duty, of the Secretary of the Treasury to 

 retire legal-tender United States notes to an 

 amount equal to 80 per cent, of the national- 

 bank notes issued, "until there shall be out- 

 standing the sum of three hundred million dol- 

 lars of such legal-tender notes, and no more." 



The act of June 20, 1874, authorized the 

 deposit by any national bank of lawful money 

 with the Treasurer, in sums of not less than 

 nine thousand dollars, for the purpose of re- 

 tiring its circulating notes, and the withdrawal 

 by it of a proportionate amount of the bonds 

 held as security for such notes. 



The whole amount of legal-tender notes de- 

 posited with the Treasurer under the act of 

 June 20, 1874, to January 1, 1876, for the pur- 

 pose of retiring circulation, was $37,053,533 ; 

 to which must be added a balance of $3,813,675 

 remaining from deposits made by banks in 

 liquidation previous to the passage of that act, 

 making a -total of $40,867,208. The amount 

 of circulation redeemed by the United States 

 Treasurer and destroyed without reissue, dur- 

 ing the same period, was $19,412,340; leaving 

 $21,454,868 of legal-tender notes on deposit 

 on January 1, 1876, for this purpose. 



From June 20, 1874, to January 1, 1876, 157 

 banks were organized, to which circulation 

 was issued amounting to $8,597,360 ; and the 

 total additional circulation issued during this 

 period to these banks, and to banks previous- 

 ly organized, was $17,523,405. Circulation 

 amounting to $23,025,691 was retired and de- 

 stroyed, without reissue, including $3,613,351 

 of the notes of banks voluntarily returned by 

 them ; the actual decrease in circulation being 

 $5,502,286. The amount of legal-tender notes 

 which up to January 1, 1876, has been with- 

 drawn from circulation and destroyed, under 

 the provisions of the law already mentioned, is 

 $10,172,780, leaving the amount of such notes 



